14 DAY TRIAL // The very first time that I played Hatoful Boyfriend I was so taken in by the setting and the options for pigeon romance that were available that I basically forgot to actually pursue one of creatures by the end of the first semester, and then I made one big mistake when my teacher tried to get closer to me.
Despite my efforts to win him back during the first few days of the second semester of school, I did not manage to create a link to him and got to experience one of the weirdest elements of the title: the assassination sequence.
Basically, a shadowy organization called the Hark Council notices that the player, the sole female human in an institution filled with datable pigeons, has failed to create a connection to any of them and then decides to eliminate her.
A replacement will probably be sent and the entire dating process will start once more, which in a way justifies the fact that the development team expects gamers to play through Hatoful Boyfriend more than once in order to see all it has to offer.
The game beyond the game
I tried to get the same result again in order to see if I get more information, but my second playthrough got me connected to Okosan and I then decided to search for some information, because I lack the time to get through the title enough times to see all the possible endings.
Without spoiling anything for you, I must say that Hatoful Boyfriend has an extra layer of meanings and concepts that are hidden pretty well behind its pigeon dating simulation surface.
There are some hints here and there, in conversations between some of the characters and in suggestions about mysterious deaths and about a big apocalyptic event.
But in order to get access to all the story and to see how the backstory of the title was created, players basically have to play several times to romance every possible target, so that they see the different endings and get all the details they have to offer.
It would have been easier for the game to deliver some more teasers in order to keep gamers interested, but I suppose that most of them would find it hard to invest the required time even then.
Hatoful Boyfriend is a good and weird experience in its original form, but it has more to offer to those who are ready to give it enough time and effort.